"Barton! Don't move! You're going to scare her!" You may have been yelling at Clint to keep his distance, but your eyes were locked on the target of the team's attentions. During your fight in Sokovia and against Ultron, you had crossed paths with someone who appeared to be enhanced, or perhaps a mutant, but you weren't yet sure. She clearly had powers of some kind, but the look in her eyes and the rigid posture of downright panic made it obvious that now wasn't the best time for you all to find out what she was.

Clint followed your command and held his position, but Steve had slowly and methodically taken quiet steps to take his place behind you, his shield held out before him. Just the slightest movement came from the woman's feet, and you reached back quickly to stop your teammate from going any further. "Steve, step back."

"(Y/N), we don't know who they are," he warned in a harsh whisper, "or what they are."

"We're never going to find out if we scare her away, are we?" you hissed back, trying to hold your expression. Any sudden movement brought out an animalistic fear in her, and you just wanted everyone to calm down and let your plan work. "Can you tell me your name?" you asked her gently. "Are you injured? Do you need help? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"We don't have time for this," Clint began to argue. The sounds of the battle raged on in the nearby distance, and it kept drawing his attention away. "Cap, you got it here? I think one of us should get back in there."

"Go," Steve nodded. "(Y/N), make a move, or we have to leave."

With a held breath and barely assured determination, you took a single step forward with your hand extended, trying to carry the picture of calm despite the raging, churning nerves in your gut. Your first step wasn't met with resistance, so you took another, and another; your hand was still held out for the stranger to take, and your final step brought you so close that she could have, easily. It was the loud explosion behind you, and the words you would choose next that ruined your progress.

"Please, it's okay. I'm here to help."

I'm here to help.

They were words that Ultron had spoken menacingly as he obliterated JARVIS, heard when Tony had played back the moment for the team to hear; the look on her face now, with widened eyes filled with pure panic, told you that they were words that she had heard just the same. In her fright, she burst forward with the need to run, but you were directly in her path. She grabbed your arm so tightly that you swore you heard a snap of your bone within her fingers.

"(Y/N)!" Steve tried, but he met the same result, with her hand grabbing his arm just as desperately. She closed her eyes for just a moment, and when she opened them again, she looked at the Captain with a renewed drive and pushed him away hard enough to toss him a few hundred feet to leave her alone with you. It was as if she had taken on his power only to use it against him. The sudden surge was both impressive and terrifying and you feared what your fate would be next.

"Help," she whispered, her attention back to you with pleading eyes.

"How?"

"Take it away. Make it gone."

"Take what away?" you tried, but she wouldn't say any more. Her other hand came up and grabbed you, her stare boring into your soul and making you feel weaker by the second under her grip. Or, maybe it wasn't her stare, but something else stripping you of your strength.

"What...w-what are you doing?"

"Take it away...please," she repeated, "no more." Her eyes began to flicker and her hold loosened, until she appeared to be completely drained of life; her body pitched and swayed, leaving Steve to barely make it in time to catch her before she hit the ground. He had only just rested her head and turned to you, when your body mimicked hers and the last sight you had before darkness was Steve not making it in time to save you from the hit.

~~~

You woke up on the helicarrier, with no idea how you had gotten there, or why there was a helicarrier in Sokovia in the first place. The last thing that you remembered was the girl you were trying to save from certain death on a floating chunk of earth, and then...nothing. The pain and burning sting in your eyes nearly forced you to keep them closed, but you couldn't just stay there resting in the infirmary, when anything could be happening on the other side of the bay doors. You had no idea who had survived, if the battle was done, and why in the hell Steve was standing at the end of your bed, staring at you like he had no idea who you were.

"Cap?"

"How do you feel?"

"Confused," you scoffed, pushing up on your elbows to see him, "but not as tired anymore, at least. What happened?"

"Tony and Thor were able to destroy the city before it hit ground, but just barely. Vision took down the last Ultron clone, so I think we made it out."

"Okay, good," you sighed. "So, what happened to her? The woman we were trying to help?"

Steve hung his head, taking a long and shaking breath before speaking again, only now much quieter. "She didn't make it. After she let you go, she was gone."

"Oh my god, how? She seemed fine-"

"(Y/N), how do you feel?"

"You already asked me that, Steve."

"I know," he paused, moving slowly around the bed to stand next to you, "I just want to be sure that you're okay, that's all. Here," he said, holding out his hand, "if you're up to it, Fury wants to talk to you."

You simply nodded and took his offer of a hand up, but when your skin connected, a wave of dizziness struck you, followed by a racing heart so violent that it almost toppled you back onto the bed. It slammed against your chest and muffled your hearing, and then just as quickly as it came, it quieted.

"Woah, hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah," you said with a shake of your head, "I think I just sat up too fast."

"You sure?"

"Mmm hmm, yeah, I think so." As you stood, and your feet dropped onto the floor with a thud, you swore that you felt it shake beneath you. With each step that followed, it seemed as if your feet fell heavier and more solidly than they had before, and when you pushed the door open to allow the two of you out, it flew from your hand and slammed into the wall as if it were nothing of an effort for you to do. "Okay...that's new."

"(Y/N)!"

Steve was robbed of the moment to ask you about what had just happened, when Pietro ran up the long hallway and came to an abrupt halt right in front of you. He was moving so fast that you wouldn't have known he was there if he hadn't have announced himself by calling out for you. "Hey, Piet, I thought there was no running in the halls," you smiled, reaching out for a hug. "Cap's right here, you know?"

"I guess I'll take my punishment then," he answered, with a bright smile in return, "I had to see you and be sure that you were well."

"I'm good, don't you worry." Finally allowing you in, you stepped into his hug, and that strange sensation struck you again, first a little dizziness, but this time it came with a wave of nausea and an explosion of your senses. You pushed back from his hold right away, leaning back against the wall to keep your balance. "There it is again, that dizziness."

"Maybe you should go back inside?" Pietro offered. "You might be leaving the infirmary too quickly."

You took a slow breath and looked around, taking care to not move your head too quickly as to not bring on the dizziness again. Everything around you seemed to be moving in slow-motion, like your senses were working so much faster and the world around you couldn't keep up. The strength that you had felt only a moment ago seemed to have waned, leaving this short-circuit in your mind in its absence. You were about to fill the two men in with what you were feeling, when you looked down at your hands and realized what it was that was going on.

"Holy crap," you gasped, "make it gone, she said. She wanted me to take it away, but instead...she gave it to me."

"(Y/N)," Steve stepped forward, "what do you mean? What did she give you?"

"She wanted someone to take her power away, because she was scared. That's what she was trying to tell me, and when she grabbed my arms, somehow...she gave it to me. What do I do? I don't want this either."

Steve looked back and forth from you to Pietro and back again, unsure of how to answer you. He wasn't exactly an expert on enhanced people despite being one himself, and he didn't know many people who were, but despite that, the look in your eyes that begged for him to help forced him into action. "I'll call Bruce and Tony," he nodded to himself, agreeing with his own decision, "Maximoff, find Wanda. I'll take all the help we can get."

Part 2

Wanda stood silently next to her brother, motionless other than the slow, methodical tracing of her hands over you as you tried to stay still on the infirmary cot. The two of them were the newest members of the team, but each had proven their worth in the battle in Sokovia even despite their innumerable losses; you trusted her to help you figure out what had happened to you because of this, but also because no one else had a better idea of what to do.

"Don't be afraid," she said quietly, trying to keep you calm, "the more you push back, the harder it is for me to read you."

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying, I promise."

"I know. All I can ask is that you do your best." Wanda's eyes closed as she continued to hold her hands a few inches above you, the red intensifying as she came closer to her goal of finding answers. You felt like a science experiment, with several other members of your team now joining in to gather around and stare at you like some kind of found animal during the mission. You wanted to tell them all to get lost, but this wasn't about making you uncomfortable on purpose; none of them would ever want that. This was purely about the safety of the ship that was carrying everyone home, and the souls that shared the ride with you.

Pietro seemed the most put off by the experience, barely having come to terms with his own powers or those of his sister. They had been an asset during the fight, but now he felt more out of place than ever, with his job finished and surrounded by people he barely knew; he barely remembered any of their names yet, but he had fixated on you right away. You had accepted him more readily than anyone else, and to see you in this position now, with unknown powers forced on you without knowing what they were, he felt a common pain, only bringing him closer.

"You are a mimic," Wanda whispered. "It's a very rare power, and it can be all-consuming and dangerous if you don't know how to control it. Somehow the woman you met in Sokovia was able to turn the focus to you and shifted it away rather than accepting more. You can assume the powers and capabilities of anyone simply by the touch of your skin to theirs. The extreme dizziness you felt was at the shift of your senses to how Pietro sees the world around him at a much faster pace. He was the last person you had contact with, correct?"

"Yes," you gasped in shock, barely making a sound, "and it's going to stay that way. How do I get rid of it without cursing someone else?"

"I don't know if you can."

Steve could only look at you with pity in his eyes, at the burden you had unwillingly taken. He wanted to have the words that would make you feel better, and would help you to find acceptance until they could figure this out, but he had nothing. Even when Thor all but stomped his way into the infirmary to check on you, Steve was in too much of a stupor to stop him before it was too late. The god pushed through and to your bedside, resting a gentle hand over yours.

"Thor, don't," you tried, but it didn't matter; the change was nearly instantaneous. Your body shuddered at the sensation, and the sounds of thunder roared in your mind with a deafening volume. Your body felt like it was engulfed in flames, and when you lifted your head to look at Wanda, your eyes glowed with lightening more powerful than any storm she had ever seen.

"Captain, what is this?" Thor asked, taking a purposeful step back. "What's happening to her? Was it something by my doing?"

"Okay, everyone please just stop touching me!" you finally snapped. "I'm obviously a danger now, so let's stop poking at the circus freak!" When Steve reached out to try to soothe your panic out of mere habit and friendship, you recoiled from his touch when he had so easily forgotten; in reality, you would have preferred his strength instead of the constant storm raging, but you had to stop the pattern before it could start. "What did I just say?!"

"(Y/N), you're not a freak," he offered, "no one here thinks that. We're not going to let you do this alone, alright? We're going to figure this out."

But in the moment, the words that would have normally worked to make you feel better only made you feel so much worse. You were about to plunge into a self-induced exile of sorts; an island within yourself, barren of touch and contact with anyone else out of fear of what it would do to you. Even worse, you had no idea how to control their powers as you took them on, so you were a danger to them just as much as any threats you had faced as a team. You were like a toddler wandering the city with a nuclear bomb and no way to disarm it. Instead of answering the Captain, you silently rolled over and away, beginning your process of disconnecting before anyone would be given the chance to stop you. It wasn't like they could touch you to force you back anyway.

~~~

After two months, you were no closer to an answer than you were on that first day, and it looked like you were now the permanent owner of mimic ability whether you liked it or not. You still hadn't touched anyone since the infirmary, so you continued to carry Thor's energy with you with no way to get rid of it without touching someone else. It was a selection that took insight and consideration, as well as consent, and it was just simpler to wear the custom suit that Tony had made instead. It fit like a second skin, under your daily clothes and under your uniform as if nothing were there. It went so far as to cover your hands too, all in the interests of avoiding an accidental transfer.

But despite the comfort of safety that your suit brought you, it couldn't give you the one thing you craved; real contact with another person. Sure, you could touch them so long as you had your suit on, but it just wasn't the same. Hugging Pietro to welcome him home from a mission felt cheaper. Even taking Tony's hand when he pulled you up from the couch after movie night was muted and dull, lacking the sensation of warmth that touch would bring.

You felt lonelier than ever, in a home full of family, in the center of the busiest city in the world.

Wanda caught on to your mood first, sensing it in you far before you showed anything outwardly. She would find you sitting alone on the balcony of the tower, your eyes closed and concentrating on the feeling of wind against your skin when you removed your protective suit. She would see you in the gym, hitting the bag until your hands bled, just to feel the real, honest pain in them again. She never told you that she watched you each day, but she couldn't keep the secret from her brother, who would take it upon himself to bring a little joy back into your life each day. She had taken it upon herself to make the biggest move yet before he had the chance to come up with it on his own.

"(Y/N), can I come in?" Pietro smiled, peeking his head through the gym door. "I can sit quietly if you don't want company today."

"Sure, why not," you answered flatly, and with a slight wave of your hand, the door opened for him and closed behind as he entered the room.

"Woah, did you do that? Since when is that one of Thor's powers? You still carry his ability, correct?"

You shook your head solemnly and removed the thin layer of wraps from your hands, tossing them into a nearby garbage before taking a seat next to him. He reached into your bag and found your water bottle, handing it to you with great care as to not risk contact since you had removed the hands from your suit to exercise. "No, not anymore," you finally answered. "It was just so much energy that it was actually draining me to keep it. I had to take on something else before it destroyed me."

"Whose? Who did you choose?"

"It wasn't obvious? I figured that you would've guessed before anyone else."

"My sister allowed this?"

"She was the one who offered, actually."

"Hmm, interesting," he hummed to himself, his mind beginning to churn with the idea of there being two of the most powerful people he had ever known so close. "I have to admit, though, I was a little hurt that you chose to not keep my particular skills. Is it something I did?"

"See? This is exactly what I was trying to avoid," you snapped, standing and grabbing your bag with a sharp pull of its zipper to close it. It wasn't his fault that he asked, and it was innocent enough, but it was what you dreaded; the choice becoming personal and your teammates finding a non-existent grudge to be held over it. "No, Pietro, it has nothing to do with you. My mind couldn't stand the sensation of the change in speed. I was dizzy, that's all."

"I'm sorry that you had to experience that. It took me a very long time to make the adjustment." Pietro lowered his gaze to the floor, but his eyes were moving as if he were searching his thoughts for just the right words, anything to make this better and to make you feel anywhere close to your usual self. He had seen the change in your mood just as much as Wanda had, but unlike his sister, he was much more eager to do something about it. "(Y/N), tell me, do you have all of her powers?"

"So far, yeah. I guess I haven't tried them all because I don't know them all. I never really sat down with her and made a list."

"Well, we know that the telekinesis works, right? We can have plenty of fun with that. There's no reason that we can't find a way to make your burden lessen in its weight on you."

The crooked grin that grew across his face left you both curious and nervous, and looking back at him fully skeptical. "Maximoff? What are you thinking? I'm aware that we haven't known each other all that long, but why do I get the feeling that you're the troublemaker in your family?"

"No idea," he smiled widely, "but if that's what you believe of me, then I might as well live up to your expectations, yes?"

~~~

It took almost no time at all for you to realize that you were exactly right, and Pietro Maximoff was a little terror; it was a tremendous success in helping your mood, however, so you continued to entertain his ideas. Pranking the rest of the team had quickly become your preferred method of trouble; between his speed and your telekinetic ability, the team began to consider formally separating the two of you both in the tower and on missions. Fortunately for Steve, he had his cell regeneration to speed his healing after a wayward vase shattered as it smashed into his skull. Natasha would take months to even consider forgiving you for wearing her favorite sweater for your levitation lesson with Wanda, leaving it practically ruined after one too many crashes and puling the knit loose beyond repair. And then there was Clint, the angry owner of a new haircut after Pietro accidentally knocked into him in his haste to catch the arrows you were flying around the common room. One of them shifted trajectory to miss the archer, but you misjudged and cut a clear path through the hair on the very top of his head as it passed.

Despite the attempts at fun that didn't always turn out as such, with your growing successes and even some of your failures, Pietro encouraged you to expand your skill set now that you were actually considering keeping it; with the help of Wanda, you were coming into your own as a newly enhanced Avenger. The dark clouds began to lift, and you were brave enough to think that this might not be such a bad thing after all.

"(Y/N), what would you like to try next?" Wanda asked eagerly. She had been even more excited than her brother when you told her that you wanted her to teach you; you weren't sure if it was because she needed a project or if she needed someone who actually understood her, but no matter which it was, you were ready to provide.

"Well, you're not gonna like it," you answered hesitantly. "I know that you struggle with the morality, but I'd like to try...um...mental manipulation. Tony told me about how you showed the team their fears, and how vivid they were."

"Oh, darling, are you sure? I have yet to find that to be a useful power, and I always feel bad after I use it."

"I guess I just need to know if I can do it. I'll probably never even use it unless I absolutely have to."

Wanda exchanged knowing looks with Pietro, the two of them sharing in heavy conversation without a word spoken aloud. The battle with Ultron wasn't all that long ago, and her part in it was integral in the murderous android's creation in the first place. She was still harboring a tremendous amount of guilt from the experience, and she feared making any opportunity of the sort for you. "If I show you," she began cautiously, "but only after we make an agreement."

"Tell me."

"You come to me first," she ordered. "If you have to use this...if a situation arises when it can be of use when there is no other way, you tell me."

"Why? So you can do it instead? Wanda, you don't need to protect me. Listen, I'll figure this out on my own if I have to, but I'd rather have your help."

With pursed lips and hurried thoughts, she considered the alternative, and the risk of you venturing out on your own to learn the skill; she stared at you while readying her answer, running alternatives through her mind until she realized that this was the right one, even if it really was the only one. "Okay, I'll do it. But we agree on what I said."

"Fine, we agree," you relented. "I'll ask mommy before I take out any of my toys."

Part 3

"Why is my tongue itchy?" Bucky grumbled quietly, sitting on the quinjet and waiting for takeoff. He had barely put on one of his boots and hadn't even reached for the other before the mission of dressing himself completely fell apart. "Is anyone else's tongue itchy? Sam? Has your tongue ever been itchy?"

Sam lifted his head in a mix of shock, disgust, and confusion, putting his gun slowly on his lap to give Barnes his full attention that was obviously needed. He sensed that there was going to be a joke happening here very soon, and he couldn't let himself miss it. He cocked an eyebrow up as he tried to choose the right words, watching his friend clumsily continue to run his fingernails over the offending area. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Thath's whath I'm athking you!"

"Get your damn fingers out of your mouth. I don't even want to know where they were last."

"Thuck you."

"Thanks, but I'm good," Sam laughed, returning to pack his weapons for the mission that was about to start. "Okay, so what did you eat? Anything new?"

"No."

"New toothpaste? Assuming you brush?"

"I bruth-"

"Stop scratching it!"

"I can'th-"

"Does anyone have an itchy tongue?!" you barked out frantically, running across the hangar when you found it empty and into the rear door of the jet. "Buck, Sam? Tongues?"

"Whath the thuck happeth?" Bucky bolted up, eyes filled with terror at the realization that this could be just about anything if you were involved. Your new powers had been tested lately, and you'd been practicing with all kinds of things that he had successfully avoided until now. He had held a solid record of being the only one on the team to do so.

"Oh, Bucky, I'm sorry," you said in a pitying whimper, "I thought I had control of it. I'm sorry! I can fix it though, here," you reached out for his hand, "just hold still."

"Thuck that!" he barked, pulling away. "I think you helpth enouth." Bucky finally took a few seconds to stop trying to make it better on his own, wiping his fingers across his uniform pants with a quick swipe as he pushed past you and out of the jet. "I'm gonna see if Wanda can fix whatever it is you did. Sam, don't leave without me."

"Keep your damn hooves out of your face and I'll wait!"

"But...I can'th thop..."

As Bucky made his way hurriedly back into the building, you turned to Sam, fully defeated, dropping yourself into the seat next to him with a heavy groan. You knew that as soon as he found Wanda, and that you had been working on your skills without her, you'd hear about it and likely find yourself kicked out of training for a while. You'd been doing well until today. "Wanda's gonna kill me," you whined, head in your hands, "but I suppose this is one way to know that sensory deprivation isn't in my skill set. Poor Buck, I hope she can fix it." You stood up to apologize to him even more when you heard the footsteps quickly crossing the room to get to the jet, but when you met them at the door, it wasn't who you expected, and you had never seen Tony more panicked in all of your time there.

"(Y/N)! Why does everything I eat taste like a foot?"

"Oh shit," you gasped, "Tony I'm sorry...but how do you know what a foot tastes like?"

"Who cares? Just fix it!"

Luckily for you, rather than breaking it to him that it might not be possible for you to do, the welcome sound of your mentor's voice carried across the hangar, soothing and calm, just what Tony needed. Wanda stepped closer with Bucky in tow, now healed of the maddening infliction you had given him. "Tony, come with me," she offered, her hand out to take him, "it will take only a moment."

"Well, that's it. I'm done," you announced, throwing your hands up in defeat, "I'm not working on this anymore. I'm obviously a screw up, and you guys are paying the price." You waited until Bucky passed by you and took his seat again, looking much more comfortable now that Wanda erased your error. "I'm sorry, Buck. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetie, don't you worry. I just panicked a little."

"You lost your shit, man," Sam scoffed. "You didn't panic just a little, you almost ripped your tongue out. You were kind of a baby about it."

"Oh yeah? Is that how it is? Fine," Bucky snapped, leaning in closer to you, "(Y/N), can you make other parts itch? Something a little more...private?"

"Oh my god, no! I mean...yeah, probably...but no!"

"I've got a hundred up in my room that's got your name on it if you can," he goaded, and he knew he almost had you. He knew that if he flashed that stupid smile your way, he'd win. "C'mon, just a little bit. Enough to make him fly a little crooked. Huh? What do ya say?"

You could only shake your head in disbelief, looking at him with horror in what he was asking you to do. On the other hand, you could use an extra hundred dollars, and it would be easy to do now that you knew where your mistake was with Bucky. "You're incorrigible," you whispered, turning to leave. You had just made it to the door at the far side of the room when you heard Bucky's laughter fill the space with a welcomed, beautiful sound at the expense of his miserably squirming friend. He had obviously underestimated who he was messing with when you heard the laughter abruptly stop.

"Oh my god, stop scratching at it! Put your pants back on! No one wants to see that! (Y/N)! Come back!"

~~~

You should have known that it couldn't be all fun and games. You were almost successful in telling yourself that things were okay, and that you had a handle on it. But this wasn't a gift that you carried with you day and night; it was a curse, and you were about to find that out in the hardest way possible.

On the mission that brought your education, your suit had been torn when you worked to free a group of survivors from a toppled building, pulling away debris with your hands that decimated the work that Tony had done for you. Shards of glass and rough concrete all but shredded the material, and never once did it occur to you to that you could use your telekinesis to make this so much easier. That wasn't how you had ever worked before, so you weren't about to start now. That was, until you came to a point when your strength just wasn't enough.

"I'm on the way," Sam called out to you, "just hang on and I'll give you a hand. Stark is right behind me."

"Great," you groaned under your breath to yourself, straining to move a particularly large boulder and letting it go, "I get the hint. Time to stop messing around." Closing your eyes, you raised your hands out in front of you, the red glow beginning to emanate from your palms as you shifted to direct them to lift the debris away. It was a simple motion that you had done so many times with Wanda, but you couldn't rest on that experience, and your focus was singular. It was so focused that you didn't hear or see Sam come in to land right next to you, or you might have been prepared for the shift when his arm inadvertently bumped yours.

"Shit! (Y/N) move!" he yelled out, trying to push you away as your powers faltered and failed, trying to save you if he couldn't save you both. Even with his best efforts, he wasn't fast enough, and the massive slab of concrete came to a crushing landing that took you both down in one hit.

~~~

Pietro didn't like you at all when you had first met; he thought that the team babied you and that you didn't belong there with the skills that they possessed compared to what you brought. Of course, he definitely didn't belong there, having been charitably taken in when Ultron needed to be stopped, and he didn't pretend that he wanted to be, either. That was, until you saved him from the rain of gunfire that would have killed him in an instant, even with his speed. He made a run for Barton, to save the boy in his arms without a care to himself, just as you had done to save him in the same conceit. When the dust settled and you pushed yourself up to stand and check for injuries, you didn't get very far, finding yourself enveloped in a hug that washed away all of the doubts and assumptions, leaving you bonded in a way that only very few people would ever know. You were bonded in the experience of seeing your own last moment, and you found comfort in knowing that at least you weren't alone.

Pietro was feeling that same pain now; that same fear as he stood at the end of your hospital bed, seeing you covered in monitor wires, and bandages, with a swollen and bruised body that barely resembled you anymore. In the room next to you was Sam, looking much the same with Steve holding his own vigil. Steve shared his time between Sam's room and yours, but Pietro never left your side once.

"You have to eat, Piet," Wanda urged, but he barely acknowledged her. "You'll be no good to her dead."

"I could have saved her."

"You don't know that."

"I would have been fast enough. I should have been on that mission, and I would have been there to push her away. No...I wouldn't have touched her in the first place, and that rock never would have dropped."

"It was an accident," she pushed, taking a seat next to him, "Sam isn't to blame for this. He reacted immediately when he saw what was happening. No one could have done better-"

"I could have! I could have done better! I owe her this!" he snapped, standing up with a start and glaring down at her. She had never seen him with this much fire in his eyes, even when their world literally fell apart around them; this was a deeper anger and an uncontrolled hurt that was new for her to see. He quickly picked up on what his lack of control was doing to her, and he compensated, sighing heavily and dropping back into the seat at her side. "Wanda, she saved my life when she had no reason to. She didn't know me, and could have easily let me save Barton, a man she knew very well and had a connection to. I was no one. I never said more than two words to her before that moment."

"And now you love her."

Pietro's eyes widened for just a quick second, making his sister smile widely enough that he dropped his gaze to save himself the self-induced embarrassment. "Maybe, I don't know..." he mumbled softly, "that's something I've never considered."

"Why not?"

"She would never love me back, so I save myself the agony, I suppose."

"M-maybe...she w-would."

Both Pietro and Wanda snapped their heads up at the sound of your voice, the duo standing and hurrying to either side of you to take your hands, but they pulled back quickly. She turned and grabbed a pair of latex gloves from the wall and tossed a pair to her brother; they moved slowly, unsure if the barrier would be enough to protect you from their power. He tried first, barely grazing your skin until he felt safe to continue; when he saw that nothing had changed, his grip became strong and unwilling to let you go.

"Printesa, we're here. You don't have to say anything, it's okay. Just rest. We can speak later when you've regained your strength."

"W-where's Steve?" you whispered.

"I'll get him," Wanda answered quickly, turning away to call for the Captain. Once she was through the door, Pietro didn't say any more, simply watching you breathing in silence, unsure of why you asked for Steve when he had just admitted his love for you, even though indirectly. He didn't stop to realize fully that you were in no condition to talk about the one thing that you needed to right now; your body was broken and hurting, clouding your mind of rationality and the ability to form even the easiest sentence in your narcotic-induced haze of pain meds. This wasn't how you wanted him to see you, but you weren't in the position to make that choice for him. Not like this. The door to your room opened again only a few seconds later, and Steve was quickly at your side.

"Hey, you gave me quite the scare, you know?"

"Sorry, C-cap," you tried, but your voice cracked from dryness and from breathing in the concrete dust from the accident. He turned to look for a glass of water for you to take, and you saw your opportunity. You weren't proud of yourself, and you would spend every day apologizing to him for what you were about to do, but to have heard what Pietro said about his guilt, you couldn't let him watch you this way for one more minute. The hand that Wanda had released was still free; you slid your finger towards Steve's hand slowly so that no one would see, and you felt the surge of his strength immediately, making your monitors scream with alarms as your heart began to race.

"(Y/N)! What did you do?" Pietro gasped, making Steve turn back to see for himself.

"No, it's okay, Maximoff, it's okay," Steve answered for you, holding a hand up steadily to calm him. "She needs the strength. It's okay." He waited for Pietro's stance to relax, hoping that he would let this be, before turning back to look at you; his eyes were filled with compassion and understanding, and your fear of hurting him with your intrusion was gone. Only then, as your gaze connected with his did you realize why he was so accepting of it; he had spent his share of years in pain and in hospital beds too, and he would have done the same if he were in your place. He actually had done the same thing by taking the serum, and you were suddenly seeing your Captain in an entirely different way. "I would've offered but I didn't know if you wanted me to."

"Thanks, Steve, I appreciate that."

He took your hand when you raised it for him to help you sit up, being the only one now who could do it. You could feel your muscles begin to heal as the cells within them regenerated, and the nerves throughout your body came alive with renewed sensation. Your vision became sharper, the colors more distinct and bright around you, and your hearing was so sharp that even Pietro's breathing was nearly too loud to endure. "Is this how you feel every time you get hurt? Like you're a little bit high?"

"I, uh...I've never been," Steve smiled widely with a quiet chuckle.

"Hurt? Or high? That might be something worth seeing if you care to try," Pietro joined in now with a more open laughter. The three of you stopped to enjoy the moment, realizing that they were few and far between, until the sounds casually died away and Steve noticed the looks being given between the two of you.

"Excuse me, guys," he said as he stood, "it looks like you need to work a few things out. (Y/N), if you need me, I'll be just outside, okay?"

"Thanks again, Steve."

Pietro stayed silent and watched him leave, waiting until the door was fully closed before turning back to you, his voice low and soft. "That was risky of you to do, taking his power like that...but I'm happy that you did. You look almost fully healed already. It's amazing...right before my eyes." His voice trailed away a bit, but his attentions held, "you're beautiful, (Y/N)...always beautiful...but with this power, you almost radiate your own light."

"Wow, you've become poetic. Did you hit your head out there?"

"Shut up," he snickered, nudging your covered leg, "you just cannot take a compliment, can you?"

"I've never been good at it, no," you relented, "but from you it sounds like something I could get used to hearing." Pietro simply nodded and finally dropped his gaze to his hands, and you could see that it was practically causing him pain to touch you through the annoying layer of latex gloves that covered them. "Hey," you nudged him back, "talk to me. What you said to Wanda-"

"Yes...I love you...I think..." he answered questioningly. When he tried to reach out to you again, as if instinctively, he pulled away and stood up with a huff, tearing the gloves away and tossing them into the garbage. "But that's no matter, right? As I told her, your love is unlikely to be returned, and I understand that. After disliking each other so readily, we've only just become friends, yes? I think that would be enough for me, for now...possibly," he mumbled, putting his hand to his chin as he began to think, turning away and beginning to pace the room.

"I don't think it is, but you have yet to ask how I feel about it."

"Y-you...you don't?" he stumbled back towards you with wide eyes. It bothered you how in disbelief he was, because even though you had a rocky start as teammates, you had grown close very quickly, and he was the one who brought it up in the first place.

You looked down at your wounds, or where they had been, seeing that they were long gone. The monitors over your head had beat in a steady rhythm since you had taken power from Steve, and you actually couldn't remember feeling better than in that moment. "Come here," you urged, "sit."

"Yes, ma'am," he obliged quickly.

"Piet, if you keep trying to talk yourself out of this, you'll never know what you're missing out on. What are you afraid of? Are you scared of me with all of this going on?"

"No! No of course not!" he exclaimed. "What I feel is nothing like fear, I assure you."

"Okay, then kiss me. Let's see what happens."

"W-what?"

"That's probably the best way to know for sure, right?"

"But you can't touch me, or else-"

"I'm ready," you shrugged, "Steve's power healed me, so I don't need to hold onto it anymore. Besides," you smiled coyly, "I've always wanted to take up running."

Pietro Maximoff suddenly wasn't such a difficult man to convince, and he wasted not another second in reaching out to you, taking your face in his hands and allowing you a moment to adjust to the rush of frenetic energy you were taking on. When he finally felt safe to do so, he leaned in closer, and you weren't sure if your heart was fluttering from the rush of his powers, or from the sensation of his lips on yours. Whichever it was, you didn't care. All you knew was that if it meant keeping this feeling forever, you were easily resolved to never touch anyone else after this moment, and that Pietro would never allow you to feel alone again.